Mark S. Wrighton

American chemist and university chancellor

Mark Stephen Wrighton (born June 11, 1949) is an American academic and chemist who is President Emeritus of George Washington University and has been serving as Chancellor Emeritus of Washington University in St. Louis since May 2019 after serving as the 14th Chancellor of Washington University in St. Louis from 1995 to 2019. He was also appointed by Washington University in St. Louis as the inaugural holder of the James and Mary Wertsch Distinguished University Professorship in August 2020. From January 2022 to June 2023, Wrighton took a sabbatical leave from WUSTL to serve as the interim president of The George Washington University while GWU conducted a presidential search for a replacement for president Thomas LeBlanc.

Wrighton was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and his father spent most of his career in the United States Navy. Wrighton moved with his family from Jacksonville to Virginia, Tennessee, Maryland, and Newfoundland, and he went to high school in Pensacola, Florida. Initially, Wrighton intended to study mathematics and government at Florida State University. Instead, inspired by his freshman chemistry professor, Edward Mellon, he switched his major to chemistry. Jack Saltiel became his advisor and mentor, and he continued undergraduate research in the area of organic photochemistry. Wrighton received his bachelor's degree with honors in chemistry at Florida State University in 1969, winning the Monsanto Chemistry Award for outstanding research. He received his PhD in 1972 at the age of 22 from the California Institute of Technology, working under Harry B. Gray and George S. Hammond. His doctoral dissertation subject was Photoprocesses in Metal Containing Molecules. At Caltech, he became the first recipient of the Herbert Newby McCoy Award.

Wrighton joined the faculty of the chemistry department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the summer of 1972 as an assistant professor. In 1976, he was promoted to associate professor and was made a full professor the following year, 1977. Wrighton held the Frederick G. Keyes Chair in Chemistry from 1981 to 1989, when he was given the newly endowed Ciba Geigy Chair in Chemistry. Wrighton's research interests are centered on photochemistry and transition metal catalysis, and include surface chemistry, molecular electronics and photoprocesses at electrodes. In the 1980s, he and his co workers developed molecule based transistors having conducting polymers as the device active materials. Wrighton was one of the first researchers to introduce the idea of electrochemical gating as a way of controlling charge transport in molecular electronics. One of his later areas of research involved attempting to chemically mimic photosynthesis. In 1987, Wrighton became the head of MIT's chemistry department. He became MIT's provost in 1990. He was among the highest paid university heads in the United States, making $738,000 in 2007. In early 2007, Wrighton was mentioned as a candidate for Harvard University's presidency. As chancellor, he led two major capital campaigns that resulted in contributions totaling nearly $5 billion, including approximately $1 billion for student financial aid, as well as the creation of more than 300 endowed professorships. He was elected chairman of the Association of American Universities (2004 2005)

On October 6, 2017, Wrighton announced his intent to leave the chancellorship. He concluded his tenure as chancellor on May 31, 2019, to become Chancellor Emeritus and was appointed the James and Mary Wertsch Distinguished University Professor in August 2020.

On September 10, 2021, The George Washington University's Board of Trustees Chair announced that Wrighton would serve as the university's Interim President for a maximum of 18 months. Wrighton started his position at The George Washington University on January 1, 2022. He was on sabbatical from Washington University in St. Louis while serving at GWU. George Washington University became a member of the highly selective Association of American Universities under his presedency. In February 2022, Wrighton caused controversy after removing posters from campus that accused the Chinese government of human rights abuses and criticized the country's hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics. Wrighton claimed he was "personally offended" by the posters and pledged to find out who was responsible for them. The decision was criticized by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, which called the decision "a wholly inappropriate response to a university purportedly committed to free expression". Wrighton clarified in a public message that after his initial comments he learned the posters were designed by a Chinese Australian artist and were a critique of China’s policies. He wrote: “Upon full understanding, I do not view these posters as racist; they are political statements. There is no university investigation underway, and the university will not take any action against the students who displayed the posters.”

Wrighton served as a presidential appointee to the National Science Board (2000 2006), which acts as science policy advisor to the President and Congress and the National Science Foundation. He served as vice chair of the National Research Council's Committee on America's Energy Future, which issued its report in 2009. While at Washington University in St. Louis, Wrighton was one of the signees of a letter from the Association of American Universities, urging all representatives of the U. S. Government to vote in favor of H. R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005. With leaders at three other Missouri universities, Wrighton wrote in support of somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) research for medical treatment, urging Missouri legislators to distinguish it from the use of stem cells for human reproductive cloning.